


Arthur E. Shappey

by orphan_account



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 22:37:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2085774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a quiet rebellion ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arthur E. Shappey

Gordon was never an Elvis fan.  
He'd describe it as a 'horrible warbling', and yell at her to 'shut that racket up' whenever she tried to play any of his records.  
Then he'd tell her he didn't mean it, and he was sorry he shouted, and he loved her.  
And she'd tell him she loved him too, and that she forgave him.  
But she wouldn't play the records anymore.  
The posters were taken down.  
The calendar was replaced come the new year, his first new year, and nothing like that was put up again.  
So she'd listen only when he was on flights, because she wanted to.

Gordon was never a good husband.  
He'd shout, and slap, and get annoyed if she tried to be her own person.  
Then he'd tell her he didn't mean it, and he was sorry he shouted, and he loved her.  
And she'd tell him she loved him too, and that she forgave him.  
But she didn't mean it anymore.  
And he'd be thankful for the music, that third year, because it meant she wouldn't notice his crumpled suit, the scent of perfume, when he came home.  
So she'd listen especially when he was on flights, or- or when he said they were flights, so she could ignore the obvious signs.

And the fourth year, when she was pregnant, he tried so hard to cover up their broken marriage, for the baby's sake, for the baby's sake.  
But he'd forget himself.  
Nine months is a long time.  
So he'd still yell, and he'd still slap, but when he came home he'd bring flowers.  
As if flowers made the problems go away.  
She wanted to leave him, she did, but the baby, the baby.  
She couldn't face motherhood alone.  
She didn't know if she could face motherhood at all.  
This wasn't what she wanted.  
To settle down, start a family, be a no-one.  
She had dreams, she was confident, she was worth something.  
But the baby, the baby.  
And when he came into the world, April first, 1985, she didn't care what anyone said, what Gordon would say, he wasn't an April Fool's joke, he was her son.  
And Gordon didn't matter anymore.  
So it was a rebellion, she supposed, a rebellion against Gordon, for he stopped her listening to Elvis, stopped her doing what she wanted to.  
It showed that he didn't, and he couldn't, stop her doing anything.  
And it wasn't the only rebellion.  
Oh, no.  
But it was the first.  
When she named their son, her son, Arthur Elvis Shappey.

Gordon was never a good father.  
He'd describe it as a 'horrible warbling' and tell her to 'shut that racket up' whenever Arthur so much as opened his mouth.  
Then he'd tell her he loved her.  
And she'd silently go and see to their son.  
Because if she lied like he did, she was as bad as him.  
And when things got bad, for her, or for the boy, she'd remember he was Arthur Elvis Shappey.  
And no-one could stop him being that.

**Author's Note:**

> In relation to Middle Names, in which we find Arthur's middle name, and that he keeps it secret.  
> Read it.  
> It's a little more light-hearted than this.


End file.
